Half-Staff Alerts for September 26The U.S. Flag is FULL STAFF across 45 of the 50 statesSTATE FLAGS across RHODE ISLAND are half-staffIn Andrews, SC, Madison, IN, Meade County, KY, Greenbrier, TN, and Clovis, CA there are local half-staffs of all Flags​​​​​​GO HERE to review all half-staff details and their honorees - including pictures

On this date, September 26, in 1774, John Chapman, also known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, within British America back then. His father was a Patriot who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Unlike fellow American Folklore figure, Paul Bunyan - the giant lumberjack, Johnny Appleseed was a real person, but some of his story was exaggerated. Johnny was an unusual pioneer of America’s western expansion. Starting in 1798, Johnny started planting apple trees near the Allegheny River in western Pennsylvania. Then, he decided to keep heading west and planting more apple trees along the way so that Americans moving west could use and enjoy them. He walked for miles each day as he trekked and planted apple trees across Ohio, Indiana, and into Illinois - sleeping outdoors every night. He spent his last years, living until 1845, age 70, in Fort Wayne, Indiana - where a minor league baseball team, the Fort Wayne TinCaps, was named in his honor .

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